Rating:  -
This movie was a waste of time. I thought it would tell me more about the person was that had made Superman so famous. But it really just was a poor excuse for trying to prove he hadn't committed suicide afterall.
Rating:  -
I was interested in seeing Hollywoodland because, like the kids in the movie, I was a fan of The Adventures of Superman when I was a kid. Also like many of those kids, I never understood why someone who SEEMED to be a huge success would kill himself. The fact that it has always been described as an unsolved case, despite the suicide declaration, has also kept my interest alive all these years. And purely from this point of interest, Hollywoodland was a very good movie for me to see. If the film's "facts" are anywhere close to as accurate as its Director, Writer, and Actors claim in the Special Features section, it has filled in a lot of gaps for me.
I should also note that I think 98% of the acting was terrific -- Hoskins and Lane are magnificent here, and both Brody and Affleck did much better than I expected. Also, the period details in the costumes and art direction were very well done, and the dialogue is excellent.
That said, although I understand what they were trying to do with the "private eye" approach to the story's exposition, in this case the approach comes off as hackneyed and cheesy. In particular, Brody's detective gets beat up some here to sorrowful effect, but at many points his scenes were so unrealistic -- particularly those where he interacts with reporters -- that I wanted to knock him around myself. Those parts of the film really did remind me of old films, or at least the bad part of old films.
Since these reviews are supposed to tell customers whether it's a good idea to buy the products, I have to say that in this case, I suggest customers note that, at the time of this writing, there are 137 used copies of this movie starting at $1.50. Is it worth that? Definitely. Buy now! But is it worth the $17.99 new price? Well...that's a closer call.
Rating:  -
It's really terrible the way a fine man like George Reeves can get thoroughly trashed in the course of making a third-rate, unsatisfying detective story. Never mind that they try to tell you this is a "fact-based" story of George Reeves. The movie is actually about some fictional slimy PI, a story no one would or should care about--so they attached that story to George Reeves by using some names and places. Affleck never comes close to Reeves' on-screen charisma. Reeves is portrayed as a one-dimensional, weak, whining loser, nothing at all like the real man and nothing about his real life and achievements make it into this film.
Like I said, this movie is actually a boring PI story. Someone at Universal figured they could salvage the film by attaching a facade of history to it, and throwing in some "name" actors. It's still a total waste of time, and what it does to the memory of Reeves is a crime.
Rating: -
If your looking for a Hollywood suspenseful thriller set in a bygone era, check out L.A. Confidential - this films was terrible. Excellent performances by Adrien Brody and Diane Lane, along with a slightly above the norm turn by Affleck do little to keep the viewer interested.
I had no idea when the film was going to end as I'd ceased to care about any of the characters after the first hour, when it did finally end, I felt a combination of relief that it was over and disappointment that it didn't finish with a grand twist.
Rating:  -
Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of Ben Affleck, but i thought he was great in this film; he has natural charm and charisma and it's on full display here; but as good as he is, Diana Lane is better: she's fantastic. I had heard about the suicide of George Reeves and that is was contriversal at the time, but really had not payed much attention to it, it happened WAY before my time, but I found this movie extremely interesting, I liked how it gives alternative endings, nobody really knows what happened to Reeves, it was ruled a suicide, but who knows. The only problem i had with the film was all the stuff with Adrian Brody, I mean, what the f? Was all that really nescessary? Honesty, I find him hard to look at, all you can think is..WHY DOESN'T HE FIX THAT NOSE? it's not only huge but it's like he's broke it a million times, it's distracting, but i digress...overall, i highly recommend this film for Affleck and Lane's tour de force performances.
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